"In the last decade, in spite of rising tuition fees, students are more likely to apply for university, poorer students are more likely to apply for university,

"In the last decade, in spite of rising tuition fees, students are more likely to apply for university, poorer students are more likely to apply for university, and the inequality gap – while still a problem – has closed." That's just ridiculous. What we are actually seeing is a very strong sheepskin effect where not having a university degree pretty much guarantees you a menial, low paying job. The poor push for a degree but that does not "the inequality gap has closed", because there is still strong inequality among degrees themselves. People go to university not to learn (that's just a side effect, in some schools, for some students) but to signal to society and to a future employer they are the type of person willing to commit themselves to a career in the field, by irreversibly burning money and years of their lives doing busywork. So clearly, a more expensive or exclusive school is a better signal. Everybody goes to university nowadays but that does not mean degrees are equivalent. I agree throwing public money at this mess is not a solution, we have to devise more efficient ways for people to signal their competence and willingness to learn.